T h e   A u t h a G r a p h 

by

Hina Nitesh

Ever wondered that if the earth is an Oblate Spheroid, then why is 

the world map a rectangle? Not any more…

Designer Hajime Narukawa, the winner of this year's Good Design Award at the Tokyo Design Week, has designed an equal area type map. The new map fixes the problems of distorted land and sea sizes that exist in the current format. Authagraph, that the map is called creates a map method that can be transformed from a spherical to a rectangular shape with the correct proportions.

Text & creative layout copyrights: On the Design Boat  ( www.onthedesignboat.com )

'THE WAY OF FLOWERS'

Text: Hina Nitesh

Flower arrangements have always fascinated me so today like the title says, this post is going to be about flowers.  

Image: www.jeremywhiteceramics.co.uk

Its actually about one particular kind of flower arrangement - Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Ike means to arrange and bana means flower. There is another term for this art - Kadu or 'the way of flowers'.

Image: www.bloomersfloristwilmington.blogspot.in

Ikebana is a disciplined art form with rules that govern the ways an arrangement can be executed. It is about minimalism expressed with natural blooms. While flower arrangements are generally just about flowers, Ikebana is also about the stem, the leaves and the vase. 

Image: www.pinterest.com

The basic philosophy is that the arrangement should be simple and should look natural.

Image: nordic-lotusblogspo.tcom

Depending on the way the flowers are used and the vase they are used is, there are different styles of arrangements. The common one are -

Rikka or standing flowers

Seikaor Shoka or living flowers

Nageire or flung flowers

Moribana or piled up flowers

The first three are created in bowl shaped vases while the fourth one is created in a dish like container.

Image: www.indulgy.com

The Ikebana arrangement is more than just a floral decoration. It brings the practitioner close to nature. The artist has to make the whole thing beautiful through the shapes, color and form of the elements used.  The aim is to connect with nature and the flowers and other elements used for the arrangement are a reflection of the changing season

Image: www.orchidsandikebana.blogspot.in

The effort is not to bring the best of the blooms inside the house but to give a glimpse of what the nature outside has to offer. This is why flowerless branches and single flowers also get prominence in the arrangement.

Image : www.pinterest.com

The end result is an attractive piece that also has a certain calm about it. The maker must be treating this creative process with a sense of spirituality about it which gets reflected in the final pieces.

Leaving you with some interesting arrangements...

Image: www.collagediva.typepad.com

Image: www.fashioncentral.pk

Image: www. flower-arrangement-ideas.com

Image: www.keithstanley.com

Image: www.pinterest.com

Text & creative layout copyrights: On the Design Boat   

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S n i p p e t * 15 - A  P a p e r  H e r i t a g e

Text: Hina Nitesh

Photo Courtesy: www.abrandmadeofglitter,com

For over 1300 years, the traditional Japanese craftsmen have been making a special paper with the bark of the mulberry tree. Known as Washi, the process used for making the paper is known to master craftsmen who have inherited it from their parents. 

Warmth, flexibility, strength and translucency are associated with the paper. Washi is used for calligraphy and for making screens, room dividers and sliding doors.

Modern techniques used today for making paper are quickly replacing the traditional process. But it is thanks to the skilled Washi craftsmen that the paper is still alive and the old knowledge is not lost.

The good news for paper makers involved with Washi production is that it has recently been included in the UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage items.

P L A Y F U L N E S S    P E R S O N I F I E D

Text: Hina Nitesh

If I said crochet and playgrounds in the same breath, I would probably get a blank expression from you. 

But just keep this is mind while I take you back to the time in design school when one of the creativity exercises involved magnifying and minimizing elements around us in order to find a hidden pattern and then applying it to a practical product. The results were amazing and till date I feel it is the best way to find a design solution. It is a great way to nurture the left side of the brain. 

Image - www.mnm.com

Image - www.crochetconcupiscence.com

Now coming back to my opening sentence and linking it with the design exercise and I have for you a craft form that had been adopted similarly in a very ingenious way. Crochet is a knitting process that involves a small hook like needle that helps in knotting the thread to make a mesh pattern.

Image - www.mnm.com

Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam, a Japanese textile designer knots the threads but only to end in creating play areas for children. It all started with a sculpture that she had knitted and exhibited in an art gallery. This attracted the children and they started playing in it – after all it all about perception and perspectives.

 

Image - www.huffingtonpost.com

From here on there was no looking back. Toshiko had always looked at ways in which her work could add value and these children had helped her discover that. She started knitting large crochet structures to be used as play spaces for children.

Image - www.play-scapes.com

Toshiko along with her husband Charles MacAdam established Interplay Design and Manufacturing Inc in Canada to develop and manufacture these crochet sculptures for play areas. These brightly coloured structures are a big hit with the children. 

Image - www.crochetconcupiscence.com

Complete with voids, loops and gently curving surfaces these structures do not have a fixed algorithm for playing. It is probably because of the encouragement that children get to discover their own way of playing and also bring their imagination into play. 

 

Image - www.afflante.com

To add to this is the fact that these structures are absolutely safe – the fibres stretch and are strong enough to accommodate a large gang of kids. Norihide Imagawa, a prominent structural designer from Japan engineers each project ensuring the safety of the sculpture.

Image - www.afflante.com

 

Image - www.babyology.com

Toshiko has come a long way since her first project in 1979 but the concept continues to enthrall children even today.

Image - www.afflante.com

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